Ministry of Science and ICT to Conduct 5G Quality Evaluations Twice a Year... LTE Also to Be Evaluated Nationwide

Expanded to 85 City Administrative Districts
Nationwide Evaluation of LTE Service
Mobile Video Service Awards Include
Netflix and Wavve

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 4th that it plans to strengthen the evaluation of 5G and LTE services in the 2021 telecommunications service quality assessment to improve the quality of communication services experienced by users.

This year, the evaluation target areas for 5G services will be expanded from major administrative districts in 85 cities to all administrative districts.

In addition to major multi-use facilities, the evaluation targets will be expanded to facilities closely related to users' daily lives, such as ▲ all sections of high-speed rail (KTX·SRT) and all subway lines (including outer metropolitan lines such as Gyeonggang Line and Gyeongui-Jungang Line) ▲ major residential areas such as large apartment complexes ▲ indoor areas of major university buildings.

In accordance with indoor air quality management laws for multi-use facilities, about 4,500 facilities including libraries, museums, and airports with high mobile usage within the 85 cities are also included in the evaluation targets.

To promote 5G deployment and provide quality information to users, the results will be announced twice a year: interim results in August and comprehensive results for the second half of the year in January next year.

Regarding LTE services, it was judged that it is a major service used by the majority of the public, with 51.9 million lines in use as of January. Considering the need for continuous quality management efforts by telecommunications companies, evaluations will be conducted nationwide, including rural and fishing villages where quality has deteriorated this year.

The evaluation targets for mobile video services will be expanded this year to include Netflix and Wavve. Considering obligations such as ensuring the stability of value-added communication services, the number of companies evaluated will increase from three (YouTube, Naver TV, Kakao TV) to five.

Furthermore, reflecting the growing need to provide objective information on the quality of various value-added communication services, research will be conducted in the future on evaluation methods that reflect the characteristics of various types of value-added communication services beyond video.

A Ministry of Science and ICT official stated, "We hope that the biannual telecommunications service quality assessments will improve the quality experienced by the public through the establishment of a more detailed network infrastructure and serve as an opportunity to develop various convergence services based on 5G." He added, "In a situation where the paradigm of communication services is rapidly changing and technology is advancing, we will continue to make efforts through proactive administration to ensure that telecommunications service quality assessments check and further improve the quality of communication services experienced by users."